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������ is the only public university in Northeast Ohio to be ranked in the top tier of the new 2017 edition of Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report that was released Sept. 13, 2016, with inclusion on the Best National Universities list.

In the ranking of both public and private universities nationwide, Kent State earned a coveted spot on the first-tier list in the Best National Universities category. Kent State is ranked 188 on the prestigious list and is one of only six public universities in the state to make the top-tier Best National Universities list. This distinction is recognition of continued growth in academic reputation and student retention.

“Our continuing positive performance on key indicators such as freshman-to-sophomore retention and incoming student academic strength contributed to the increase in our overall score on the Best National Universities list,” says Kent State President Beverly Warren. “We would have liked to improve upon the 19-spot vault we achieved last year, but we are pleased to be among the top public research universities, all of whom are building impressive records of distinction.”

Kent State’s overall score of 30 is four points higher than the previous year. The rankings are based on several key measures of quality. The scoring breakdown of the measures and their weighting are graduation and retention rates (22.5 percent), undergraduate academic reputation (22.5 percent), faculty resources (20 percent), student selectivity (12.5 percent), financial resources (10 percent), graduation rate performance (7.5 percent) and alumni giving rate (5 percent).

The 2017 rankings are posted online at . They also will appear in the print edition of the “Best Colleges 2017” guidebook that can be purchased online.

For more information about U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2017 edition, visit .